HRviews

JENNIFER WENZEL’s career spans two continents and a range of industries including healthcare, hi-tech and infrastructure, in Canada and the UK. She delivers frontline support to organizations across the full spectrum of human resources, including policy and program development, talent management, learning and development, and employee relations.  Before establishing Blüme (www.blumeconsulting.ca), she held full time human resource positions with Infrastructure Ontario, Altera Corporation and the National Patient Safety Agency.  As a coach, she works with range of business leaders and professionals to help them define, focus and achieve their professional goals.  Jennifer’s designations include Certified Executive Coach (Royal Roads University), Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP), and Chartered Member of the Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD). She is also licensed to deliver a range of assessments for team and leadership development.  She is currently enrolled in the Executive MBA program at Queen’s University.

Through HRviews our goal is to share as many success stories as possible with our readers and to encourage them to persevere in this profession. Your story Jennifer is very inspiring and motivating especially for those who consider entrepreneurship. Can you share with us how Blüme Consulting came to life?

I’ve always had a tendency towards entrepreneurship – I ran a number of small businesses throughout my school and university years and a few years ago I established Blüme as venue to offer coaching to a limited number of clients.    When I moved to Ottawa, I had to give up my fulltime employment and also planned to begin a demanding MBA program.  I began looking for a new position in Ottawa, but wasn’t feeling much of a pull towards the jobs I saw posted and kept thinking about what it would be like to take Blüme on fulltime.  Making the decision to take this leap was terrifying, but also very rewarding.  Working for myself lets me focus on those assignments and companies I find most exciting, lets me learn new aspects of running a business and gives me the flexibility I need for my studies.

Jennifer, your career in the HR field encompasses working for start-up companies to now providing independent consulting to start-ups. Can you tell us what kind of an HR consulting services you offer to a start-up company and what are they most interested in?

Start-ups often don’t have the resources or need for  a full time HR person, but still require a lot of the same policies, systems, and programs as a larger company.  A business owner trying to establish the function themselves can become buried in HR or leave their company open to risk.  So one thing I do is partner with these companies on an as-needed basis to establish their HR infrastructure, develop programs and help navigate tricky employee issues.   For some business owners, managing people is a new responsibility and learning how to do it effectively and comfortably can be intimidating.  To help them scale this curve and build their confidence I offer leadership coaching, assessment, and team building workshops.

Some of our readers might wonder how the recruitment process works for a start-up company?  How do you advise on hiring knowing that in today’s workforce attracting and retaining high performance employees can be somewhat of a challenge.

Start-ups are particularly challenged in that they need to be able to convince strong talent to forego job security and probably better compensation to fly by the seat of their pants, without a clear job description, in an unknown company, for less money, while working long hours to build something that may, or may not, succeed.

So they have to be creative.  Gaps in compensation may be met by offering contingencies on future income, such as stocks or bonuses as a percentage of sales.  An exceptional work environment can ease the pain of working long hours (e.g. onsite laundry, game rooms, beer Fridays – think of what some of the hi-tech companies have done).   Perhaps most importantly, the person interviewing, preferably the owner, needs to convey their passion, ability to make the start-up a success, and belief that this is a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity for the prospective employee to be part of something amazing.

In terms of finding those first few employees, referrals and networking, including social media, are important sources.  Also new graduates and interns provide raw talent that is eager to learn and often less constrained by previous experience.

What part of your experience would you want to share with a HR professional considering setting up on their own?

Have a strong foundation in place.  Even a home based business will likely cost more than anticipated so have the funds to keep your business going and cover personal expenses.  Be ready for what’s involved – it’s a steep learning curve that you need to be able to scale quickly and includes determining your structure, managing your finances (business and personal), obtaining insurance, marketing, and drafting contracts.

Most importantly, develop a strong network that can provide support, learning, and feedback.  Initially I was uncomfortable talking to others about my business because I wanted to be established and seen as a success before I shared what I was doing.  I soon found this was the lonely and difficult way of doing things.  I have since hired a coach, spoken with lots of consultants that have walked this road before me, and joined networking groups to interface with my target market and other entrepreneurs.  I am continuously amazed by how willing people are to offer help and advice.

Having worked on two different continents, do you see the value of a global HR designation for those who might consider an international assignment or is HR, HR wherever you go?

When I returned to Canada the biggest challenge I had in finding employment was convincing Canadian employers that I was qualified to offer HR within Canada.  Even though my HR designation was highly recognized in Europe and the UK, in Canada it seemed meaningless. If there was an international HR designation that was recognized within Canada it would have made that transition easier.  However, on the other side of that argument, although a lot of the principles and programs of HR apply across the globe, there are some distinct and fundamental distinctions that are country specific.  In order to be proficient as a HR professional, it was important that I understood Canada’s employment law and the Canadian business culture and challenges.  I think this would apply to any HR professional considering an international assignment.

In our conversations with HR Professionals, one question keeps remaining somewhat of a dilemma. We all know that HR is slowly becoming the needed partner at the business table, however some still doubt our ‘value-add’ mission. From your encounters with different businesses, what do you believe needs to happen for us (HR) to be the must have partner at the business table?

Two things.  One, we need to earn our place at the table – no one is going to hand it to us nor should they.  As HR professionals we need to demonstrate an understanding of the business and environment within which we work, and advocate, market and evaluate the work we do in those terms.  Secondly, we need to become more aligned in how we view and conduct ourselves as a profession.  Our clients should be able to rely on a general standard of the skills, knowledge and attitude they can expect from their HR professional.  Associations such as the HRPA are making strides towards this, but we still have a long way to go.  Accessible (i.e. minimal cost) networking opportunities, mentoring programs for people at all levels of the career ladder, and tools to help us evaluate our impact are things that would promote our development as a profession.